


Afterspark Podcast: G1 Episode 11 The Ultimate Doom, Part 1

by specspectacle, Twilight-Owls (LadyTorix)



Series: Afterspark Podcast: Transformers G1 [12]
Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Embedded Video, Episode Commentary, Episode Review, Episode notes, Fanfiction recommendations, Links, Podcast, Podfic, Podfic Length: 20-30 Minutes, Swearing, Video, YouTube, transcript
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-25 22:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18710725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/specspectacle/pseuds/specspectacle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyTorix/pseuds/Twilight-Owls
Summary: In which our hosts begin yet another three parter.  The words, "Operation Guinea Pig," are said with amazing frequency, Sparkplug falls to the Dark Side, and Optimus makes a no-good, very bad decision!





	Afterspark Podcast: G1 Episode 11 The Ultimate Doom, Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you need an audio only version of the podcast please check out the links at the end of the transcript!

[Stinger]

O: Him and Megatron have some ginormous blanket. I don't know who gave that to them.

[Intro Music Plays]

O: Hello, and welcome to the Afterspark Podcast an episode by episode recap of the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon. I'm Owls!

S: And I'm Specs!

O: And today we're gonna be talking about episode number 11: The Ultimate Doom ~Part 1~. Let's talk about giant robots today shall we?

S: Yeah!

O: So finally we are to our second three-parter, The Ultimate Doom!

S: In an idyllic village in India a very, very white Rajah with ginger hair is dicking around with a solar array in his palace.

O: Oh eighties, uhh…

S: Yeah…

O: And you, you know what--you know where this is going, right? It's a solar power thing and who loves themselves some energy? That's right, Decepticons.

S: And here come the Seekers!

O: And then the Autobots water-ski to the rescue...in car mode. Yes, really. [laughter]

S: Yeah, it looks like they're just coming across the sound or something?

O: Which, [unintelligible] you would presume they’re coming from the west coast--going to India! [dissolves into laughter]

S: That’s a long ass trip.

O: [still laughing] It’s just like, okay then! Um, apparently we have Wheeljack to thank for this.

S: Yep, and some of the Autobots are ungrateful for this you know, technological marvel.

O: [loud cough] Sunstreaker buddy--we're looking at you.

S: Cough, cough! The Autobots arrive at the palace and somehow, and we mean literally somehow, get the Maharaja out of Skywarp’s hands, like Skywarp looks like he's---

O: It looks like floats away or something? I don't know how to describe it!

S: Yeah, it’s like, the way Skywarp is holding the Maharaja it's like his shoulders go up like, a further two feet past his head or something? It looked really weird and then the Maharaja just like, totally floats out of his hands.

O: And over to Optimus? Anyway, um, Megatron is watching this all go down on some big-ass view screen with Doctor Arkeville.

S: First time we've seen that dude and also where the hell is that camera placed?

O: Like how are they getting all these views?

S: Well, I mean, I guess the Decepticons do have like, a camera and like, surveillance systems in an earlier episode so at least they know how to do surveillance systems?

O: Right, but in a palace in India?

S: True! I don’t know, heck, maybe--maybe they seeded cameras around or some place, I don’t know.

O: Did they--did they like, toss Rumble in there to wire up security footage or something?

S: I feel like Reflector would be the more--

O: You're right, you’re right--my brain was going, “What Minibots do we have?” and Rumble and Frenzy were the only humanoid ones that were coming to my head, but you're absolutely right Reflector would be a better choice for this.

S: Except I don't think he can broadcast, who knows! Actually, I'm pretty sure that Laserbeak can broadcast.

O: Yes.

S: We see that in the movie don't we?

O: Well we see it in a couple other places. Anyway! So my favorite part about all this, is that this fiasco is called, “Operation Guinea Pig,” apparently!

S: How--does Megatron know what a guinea pig is!?! Who gave him the primer on children's pets?

O: [barely suppressed laughter] Specs! Specs! The words, “Operation Guinea Pig,” came out of Megatron--commander the Decepticons’ mouth--multiple times!

S: Maybe Arkeville just pulled out a dictionary of like, common things to use in science experiments and guinea pigs happened.

O: [laughter] I don’t care--I just got to hear Megatron say, “guinea pig,” so many times in this episode it was great! Anyway, Megatron orders Soundwave, who's just standing out front of the Ark for some freaking reason to get their test subject.

S: So this goes back to the Autobots lack of you know, security measures or surveillance because how the hell does no one notice him!?! He's just literally standing--

O: He’s literally standing out there.

S: He’s just like hanging out, chillin, right in front of the Ark in broad daylight. It’s so dumb. It’s so dumb.

O: So, Soundwave ejects Rumble. Rumble books it into the base and then pile drives the hell out of the floor to try to get the Autobots’ attention.

S: This, this works.

O: To a degree.

S: Yeah, and Soundwave then ejects Ravage who also seems to be here for distracting the Autobots because apparently they need like a three-prong strike for this?

O: Yes. So lastly, Laserbeak gets ejected and goes through the top of the volcano and  
into the Ark.

S: Well, the Autobots need doors--apparently they don't have them, but whatever. And while Rumble and Ravage are busy being distracting and Spike and Sparkplug are cheering for the Autobots during this fight Laserbeak descends from the heavens and grabs Sparkplug and swoops the hell off with him.

O: Spike is saddened by the sudden development of the loss of his father.

S: Well you know any teenage boy would be, probably.

O: Maybe?

S: Well he seems like he has a good relationship with his dad.

O: Yeah, they do actually, so yes.

S: Yeah. Meanwhile back in India the fighting has like, profusely damaged the surrounding palace like, there's just random holes in places.

O: And cracks. Yeah.

S: Yeah. I'm not really seeing any like, scorch marks or anything, or at least I don't remember seeing them, but yeah whatever--the place is badly damaged the solar array is probably, you know--

O: Kaput.

S: Yeah.

O: Megatron recalls his troops after Operation Guinea-Pig is successful.

S: The Autobots remain confused until Optimus Prime's boobs begin to glow because…

O: Well--

S: Warning boobs.

O: Well Megatron had glowing boobs a few episodes ago, right? Clearly Prime was jealous and he had a set installed himself.

S: Yeah, so they're warned that the Ark was attacked while they were tangoing with the Seekers.

O: Back at the Decepticons’ underwater base Laserbeak returns with Sparkplug.

S: And so like, okay I just want to note this--cuz I think it's kind of neat how much control Laserbeak has like, they’re going down an elevator and Laserbeak stays perfectly stable in the center of this elevator while he's flying holding Sparkplug.

O: It’s because Laserbeak is amazingly competent!

S: He is!

O: As are most of Soundwave’s cassettes, thank you this has been my TED talk.

S: Yep, and then Skywarp and Starscream totally bicker like Mean Girls while Thundercracker just, you know, stands by himself in the corner. You know, you try to avoid--

O: He wants to avoid the drama.

S: Yeah.

O: Sparkplug tries to make a break for it and begin smashing everything on a computer console that's nearby.

S: Well, you know button mashing--it fixes everything. Percussive maintenance it's totally a thing. Even if, you know, you're trying to like, escape your kidnappers.

O: Are we gonna talk about if that's his method I don't want him working on the Autobots? [laughter]

S: Well, at this point he’s been kidnapped, he doesn't want to help Decepticons, so…

O: True.

S: Like, he just wants to fuck their shit up.

O: True. Naturally this does nothing and he's restrained into a chair as Dr. Evil himself installs a computer chip behind his ear.

S: Like there's no glue or anything? It's just like stuck there...staying there through the power of EVIL!

[laughter]

S: No it’s weird, it’s like, does he have a slot behind his ear for that to go in?

O: All I know is that the Doc seems very confident as Megatron espouses about creating, “A new race of slaves!”

S: Meanwhile, Shockwave calls to tell Megatron his new space bridge is almost ready.

O: I'm sensing a pattern here Shockwave. You've got to get a better job, dude!

S: Unfortunately, he's stuck being the elevator guy in this continuity. That's like his--his job.

O: Yeah. Pretty much. Doc turns on the computer chip and reveals it to be a mind-control device.

S: And to test--to test this Megatron, he like opens a door that apparently no one else has looked behind?

[laughter]

S: And like, produces a perfect life-size replica of Optimus Prime from this handy-dandy closet that, as I said before, no one has checked out.

O: Okay. Can we stop for a moment talk about how Megatron has a perfect replica of Optimus Prime stashed away here handily close by and furthermore that this isn't the only time we'll see that he has something like this in this series?

[laughter]

S: Megatron has a thing.

O: Megatron, definitely has a fucking thing.

S: For Optimus.

O: [laughing] He definitely does!

S: Considering that yeah, there's--

O: There’s this, there's like an Optimus Prime suit Starscream is wearing which--don't even get me--don’t even get me started on the implications of that!

S: Yeah, and there's a bit where they actually get Optimus Prime, dismantle him and stick his arm on top of a tower and construct the rest of his body into a goddamn alligator.

O: I wish I could tell you we're kidding, but we're not!

S: We're really not. The arm is shooting into a crowd screaming Autobots below. That’s actually a line from a piece of fanfiction that I thought was just really funny….yeah. Let’s get back on topic!

O: Yeah. Anyway, the doctor orders Sparkplug to take out Optimus.

S: This gives Sparkplug...super strength, because apparently he just you know, decks this 30-foot tall robot replica like, by punching it in the foot or whatever and totally knocking him down. Or breaking him apart? Or like he grabs the foot and…

O: Regardless, clearly something's going on here or this robot replica is made out of tinfoil, pick one.

S: I wouldn't be surprised, I mean, considering that the Decepticons are actually surprisingly good at making weirdly lifelike fakes of things that then fall apart.

O: True.

S: Maybe it’s paper mache?

O: [snorts] Okay, okay but what you're telling me--because clearly no one helped him make this if they didn’t know it was there--

S: [laughing]

O: --is that Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, was busy making a paper mache copy of Optimus Prime in his spare time, that has been lovingly crafted in such a way that it looks exactly like Optimus Prime, is in fact painted like Optimus Prime, and has working optics, like Optimus Prime!

S: And walks.

O: And walks! That’s what I mean he moves!

[laughter]

S: Sorry, I'm just imagining Megatron sending someone out to get what, flour, water, glue--

O: Newspaper?

S: [laughing] Yeah...god.

O: [terrible Megatron impression] “Soundwave, send me Frenzy right away!”

S: Oh god, and then we'd go back to the library thing--like someone would’ve had to provide him with arts and crafts instructions.

[laughter]

O: Yeah, pretty much.

S: Let’s get back on topic.

O: Meanwhile, the Autobots meet on top of a steep cliff overlooking the ocean where Optimus, Sunstreaker, Jazz, Wheeljack, Gears and Bumblebee dive in.

S: [sighs] And then Brawn, Windcharger, and Cliffjumper split off and start drilling, underground because apparently we need a two-pronged assault.

O: Brawn just pulls the drill out of his engine compartment for this???

S: With three question marks for this cuz that was super weird and where the hell did it come from Brawn?

O: The Autobots are dis--so the Autobots in the ocean are detected by a Decepticon scanner.

S: As I said earlier the Decepticons totally have security cameras. Apparently they're the only ones who have actually, you know cottoned on to security being a thing.

O: Apparently. [laughs] Uh, Optimus’s group gets blasted by a fusion cannon as Megatron casually steps out from behind a rock.

S: And yet another underwater fight ensues. The three drilling bots come up from the ocean floor.

O: This confuses me, why would they come up here and not just underneath and into the Decepticon base directly?

S: It's--it's silly, it's really silly.

O: Or at least that's how the animation like, the animation makes it look like the Decepticon base is on the open--the ocean floor, but when they come up it's not? And they come up underneath the Decepticon base and isn't flush to the ocean floor. I kind of feel like it just is really inconsistent between the shots?

S: Well--the Decepticon base has like multiple areas and levels, considering it looks like they made like an entire city down there?

O: Yeah, but you’d think they’d enter through an area that is flush to the ocean floor then.

S: It would make sense but the people writing this episode...were not thinking sensibly, let's go with that.

O: [laughing]

S: It's silly, let's go with that, let's go with the fact that it's silly and let it go and--

O: [singing Let it Go from Frozen] Let it go--

S: [singing Let it Go from Frozen] Let it go, let it go, or so--whatever.

O: [laughing]

S: God. [sighs] In the base Starscream and the doctor are arguing with the doctor threatening to, “Reprogram you into a trash compactor!”

O: Which I'd love to see. Cliffjumper’s glass gas makes a lightsaber sound effect when it's used here and Cliffjumper used this right where Starscream was a--standing apparently, as two seconds later Starscream falls through the floor and out into the ocean.

S: Which is really hilarious.

O: It is. He's like mid argument with--with Dr. Evil here.

S: And like, he just falls down and there's a splash and then the Autobots just climb up?

O: You would think they would’ve like, had to past each other or something. Uh, anyway the Autobots play pass the human as they pick up Sparkplug after entering the base.

S: And then just you know totally take him out into deep water he's...yeah, he's totally gonna die? Cuz I mean, uhh--I’ve forgotten the word, ah--

O: Bends?

S: Yes! I keep wanting to say deep vein thrombosis, and that’s not what I want.

O: The bends! He’s gonna die from the bends.

S: Well also, you know, being underwater for however long.

O: Eh, not if they get him to the top quickly.

S: Well--

O: Seriously, I feel like, Ratchet needs like sit down and have like a conference with all the Autobots and explain how fragile their squishies are.

S: Yes, cuz the thing is, getting him up there fast is more of a danger to--with the bends. Uh, taking a slow time means he's gonna drown.

[laughter]

O: Well, pick your poison?

S: It’s--well maybe they can get a hyperbaric chamber or something that they can you know slowly, slowly do the pressure whatever.

O: Yeah.

S: I don't know let's get back to this. Instead of me being like, worried about sensible stuff.

O: [laughs] Sense? Here? Never! So at the Ark, the bots are all getting fixed up after that fight.

S: And Spike notices something is wrong with Sparkplug.

O: And now the Decepticons are here...suddenly.

S: The Decepticons just literally blasted a hole in the wall with no one noticing so I guess...the medbay is in the part of the Ark that sticks out?

O: Apparently.

S: I don’t know.

O: Megs comes in and shoots Prime at point-blank range in the chest. I feel like he should be dead, he's not. Um, they also do make a point of saying that something must be wrong with Teletraan 1 for the Decepticons to have gotten in this way and given that all the bots’ weapons malfunction in the next shot, it's a pretty safe bet that Sparkplug has sabotaged the shit out of everything.

S: It seems like he has literally had--been the most effective Decepticon agent in this entire series, though Nightbird does make...Nightbird is actually very good at what she does in her one episode.

O: We’ll get to her later. [chuckles]

S: But yeah, Sparkplug is so far the most competent Decepticon agent here.

O: Bumblebee then tells Spike to hide. Spike proceeds to trip over absolutely nothing, or rather an invisible wrench if the next shot is to be believed.

S: Where the hell is Dr. Arkeville getting these camera feeds from!?! He's getting close-ups of Spike during all this which A) is creepy, B) did someone just send you know, flying pinhole cameras in there?

O: [laughter] Who knows?

S: Spike tries to reason with his dad but you know, this fails cuz poor Sparkplug is still under the mind-controlled power of evil Shaggy here.

O: Yes. We do have Casey Kasem doing yet another voice as Dr. Arkeville.

S: There's a surprising number of Scooby-Doo actors in this show.

O: Yeah, we’ve gone through that.

S: Yeah.

O: Regardless, Spike fixes Teletraan by shoving a wrench into the open panel?

S: It-it vanishes? Just you know, it becomes one with the machine after this, it’s--

O: That's what cyber shit--that's how Cybertronian tech works, right?

S: I guess?

O: This--

S: I don’t know.

O: Getting Teletraan 1 back on activates the fire suppression system but this apparently could short out the Decepticon circuits...for some reason?

S: Ah, they just pulled it out of their ass but I mean it would have to be a pretty proactive system to cope with Wheeljack’s normal shenanigans.

O: True, but shorting out their circuits seems a touch excessive, and also why wouldn't this affect the Autobots in the same way? Also, also why would it not just be water--they were in the ocean and all perfectly fine two minutes ago!

S: Well, this might be something that's specifically constructed to deal with like--

O: Fires?

S: I don’t know, fire or--

O: Or like, chemical fires?

S: Combustible ener--yes.

O: Okay.

S: Combustible energy or something?

O: That’s fair.

S: Cuz, well, I've also seen some particular pieces of fanfiction that like, focus on the differences between Autobot and Decepticon construction, though I haven't seen a whole lot of that and it was mainly one piece of fanfiction that I should probably throw at you--though it does deal with an original character.

O: Eh.

S: So that--it was--it was pretty neat. So it could be something that specifically focuses on Decepticons or one specific aspect of like, their construction or something.

O: Fair.

S: I don't know. It's an idea. The Decepticons retreat uh, and possessed Sparkplug attempts to take Spike with them but Spike refuses, you know.

O: “When--when next we meet we are enemies!” [laughter]

S: Yeah, Sparkplug delivers that line like--there's a surprising amount of passion in the line?

O: [laughter]

S: For a man who is basically being mind-controlled, [sigh] yeah.

O: Spike looks super dejected after this.

S: Badly drawn and dejected. Actually, no I feel like I need another D-word in there so we can have more alliteration but I can't think of anything.

O: Badly drawn, down, and dejected.

S: Yeah, thank you! The Decepticons have apparently hijacked some huge ass satellite dishes with the intent to space bridge Cybertron to Earth. Okay, they're not exactly satellite dishes? They’re those big like, antenna dishes or whatever.

O: Yeah, but they look like how you would think satellite dishes look like but they're just huge.

S: Yeah, it's just whenever someone says satellite dishes it makes me think of an actual satellite.

O: Oh, no.

S: Sorry, that’s the first image that comes to mind.

O: Ah, so I had like--I had uh, satellite growing up like, for TV--

S: Yeah.

O: --and there are just little satellite dishes that sit in your yard.

S: Okay.

O: So that's what I think of only you know, huge!

S: Okay.

O: Um--and now you know where the--that plot from the Bay movie came from! It came from this.

S: It’s pretty much lifted exactly from this--

O: Pretty much.

S: --three parter episodes.

O: In some--on some levels.

S: Yeah, and Dr. Arkeville is apparently a tad pissed that Megatron is planning on destroying the Earth with this move, cuz you know what Megatron didn't tell Dr. Arkeville when he was promising him Earth? That he was planning on fucking shit up on Earth.

O: I mean...it's the very Megatron move let's be honest here.

S: It is, it is.

O: So back at the Autobot base they use Teletraan to triangulate where the Decepticons have wandered off to reaching the conclusion the Decepticons have created a fucking ginormous space bridge.

S: And the Autobots show up at the Decepticons’ location but Megatron presents a ton of human slaves ac--that he's acquired, and the Autobots like, totally stop their attack in fear of endangering the humans because you know they're Autobots, gotta save the humans.

O: They gotta do the right thing.

S: And the humans...okay I know it's the perspective and like, it was the easiest way to draw it, but the humans come sauntering out of this building like a freaking chorus line.

O: [laughter]

S: Like, they're coming out sort of--they're walking sideways and they're like…ugh.

O: They're all moving in synch, right--because they're all being mind-controlled.

S: Yeah, because it's basic--I'm pretty sure it's basically just one figure that got animated and then they copied it.

O: Yes.

S: So it’s all on the same timing--

O: So it looks like a chorus line!

S: It really does--it actually makes me think of the musical, “The Chorus Line,” or, “A Chorus Line,” um, yeah, sorry that's the first damn thing that I thought of when we saw this bit.

O: Regardless, Megatron clearly has no such reservations on the fear of killing humans as he fires on Prime.

S: Hey, they’re--he has literally declared that they're just slaves to him so--

O: Pretty much.

S: --he’s evil and of course he doesn't care because he's an evil, giant robot from outer space, yeah. The doctor orders the human slaves to attack the Autobots.

O: Which they do. With sticks and rocks.

S: God, are we at World War 3 yet?

O: I dunno. [laughter]

S: I guess we are, I don’t know. The Autobots try to carefully step around the humans to avoid hurting them.

O: And Spike manages to get through to Sparkplug for a few seconds until the doctor ups the power on his hypno chip.

S: This is actually pretty freaky. It really is It’s just like fod what effect is it actually having on Sparkplug’s brain or any of the other human’s brains?

O: Yeah, like is it frying his brain? Is Sparkplug, like watching all this perfectly con--you know, conscious?

S: Yeah, and uh, Sparkplug and Thundercracker activate two of the satellites which leaves us with one more to go.

O: Uh-huh!

S: And Optimus follows Megatron with Megatron kicking him down a mountain and Optimus’s head slamming into a rock.

O: So--we're just gonna go when he sustains a fucking head injury here because he's about to make some very bad, dumb, no good decisions.

S: They're terrible.

O: They're very bad. [laughter]

S: Megatron reached the control panel for the third and final--we must emphasize, **final** satellite to activate the space bridge but Optimus tackles him from behind.

O: And then back to those no good, very bad decisions on Optimus’s part. Megatron says if they don't bridge Cybertron here it will be destroyed, so Optimus has to pick between Cybertron or the Earth. Optimus presses the third button himself and then seemingly regrets it instantly.

S: You made a stupid ass decision Optimus.

O: [laughter] Yes, yes you fucking did!

S: And so, Cybertron is teleported near Earth it's like, super freakin’ tiny compared to our planet like--it's like, Pluto-sized or something?

O: Which leads me to think, no wonder they were fighting over resources when they were all on Cybertron if it's that tiny!

S: Yeah, it's like, the Bay movie of makes more sense scalewise, I think?

O: It does actually.

S: But I mean they probably had a hell of lot more money.

O: True.

S: And so Megatron proclaims victory, Optimus questions his life choices (as he should),and the episode cuts.

O: So, join us next time for The Ultimate Doom Part 2, as natural disasters threaten the planet Earth and Spike takes a field trip to Cybertron to reconnect with his father.

S: It sounds like a good father-son trip--

O: [laughter]

S: --though maybe not under these circumstances.

O: True!

S: I mean, Spike did say he wanted to go to Cybertron.

O: He did! Alright Specs, what are our fanfics for today?

S: Alright, so today we have three pieces of fanfiction in our selection.

The first one is--it's actually a His Dark Materials alternate universe where, um, the humans have daemons, the Transformers do not. Uh, so the title is, “You Say Spark, I Say Soul,” and the author is sgri_sgri and that is spelled S-G-R-I underscore S-G-R-I. Ah, it's cartoon continuity, but as I said in AU, rated T. It's Gen, there aren't any pairings. Our characters here are: Sparkplug Witwicky, Spike Witwicky, the Autobots, the Decepticons, Chip Chase and Dr. Arkeville.

In summary: “ “What's it like?” Spike asked Bumblebee when the two of them were enjoying a quiet moment on the ridges around the ark, “Having a soul on the inside?” As if the small squishy organics and the giant metal robots weren't different enough already. It's a His Dark Materials AU.”

And so our character and theme recs for this uh--or theme recs from this episode are: Basically I wanted something that was Spike and Sparkplug-centric, considering that basically Sparkplug is mind controlled for the entire thing and Spike is very unhappy about this and I wanted something that was maybe less like that, but also this cover--this piece of fanfiction covers like, from the very beginning of the series through, uh--actually the three parter that we're currently going through right now.

O: Oh.

S: So it does actually cover this. And our next one is “Shoot Out,” by ladydragon76. It's G1 cartoon, rated T, Gen--no pairings and our characters are a Bluestreak and Preceptor. And in summary: “Who is the better crack shot, Bluestreak or Preceptor?” And honestly I just wanted something silly and light for this one and it's a one shot.

Also, I forgot the Spike and Sparkplug one, “You Say Spark I Say Soul,” is also a one shot. Uh, I should note in, “Shoot Out,” Preceptor and Bluestreak are drunk. [laughter]

O: [laughter]

S: It’s kinda great.

O: It sounds great!  
  
S: Um-hmm, it's also pretty short. So our third selection today is, “2014 Tiny Treats #12, Decepticon AU edition.” The author is eerian_sadow, it--continuity-wise it's a G1 AU, it's rated T, Gen, and there aren't any pairings. Our characters are: Megatron, Starscream, Skyfire and Chromia.

And in summary: “A Canon AU where the Ark and Nemesis still crashed on Earth, but only the Decepticons woke up. It's a story told in 12 microfics.” So it's really, really short, since they're basically like, one or two-sentence microfics apiece.

O: Um-hm.

S: And like, the--the theme or rec for this--or character or theme for this, was dark AU in light of what Cybertron would have done to earth. Which seemed fitting.

O: It did--it does.

S: And so, yeah, it's a microfic so it's very, very short but it's actually very affecting because it's so short.

O: Mm-hmm.

S: And some of the stuff that it talks about, so thank you those are our fanfiction recommendations. I believe we have fan art?

O: Yes we do! Our fanart recommendation for today is Nicolas Kelsch. Kelsch? Kilsch?

S: I guess?

O: Nicolas Kelsch is what I'm gonna go with, sorry if I'm mispronouncing that. This person is no longer an active artist but you can check out their work via the Wayback Machine and their DeviantART page. They did a variety of things for multiple iterations of the franchise most of, uh, the stuff on their actual website are sprites. Like, you know, little pixelated sprites. Personally, I really enjoyed their Beast Wars sprites, because truly there is not enough Dinobot in the world to satisfy me.

Uh, we are going to link to their--their old DeviantART as well as the Wayback Machine version of their website. I do recommend checking them out cuz we won't be able to actually post any of their work because it's not on Tumblr so we can't reblog it.

S: Mm-hmm.

O: But yeah, I-I really like the Beast Wars stuff because I want more Beast Wars stuff in my life.

S: Yeah, it was actually pretty common back in the day for people to use his sprites as like, little icons on forums.

O: Mmm, that makes sense.

S: Yeah, but yeah, I'm really glad that I showed this to you cuz I thought you'd get a kick out of this work.

O: I did--it's like, I dunno, I like, the really tiny Dinobots they crack me up.

S: They are, it's nice seeing the little tiny sprites of characters that aren't necessarily well-known.

O: Yeah, cuz it seemed like he did more stuff based off the toys than like, the shows per se, so you get some ones you don't normally see which is kind of neat. And he also actually had sprites made for the prequel comic that was made for Beast Wars which was really cool cuz there's like hardly any work for that so I was pretty excited.

S: And that just about wraps it up for us today. Remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as Afterspark Podcast for any additional information, show notes, or links we may have mentioned. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter at AftersparkPod (all one word) and various other locations by searching for Afterspark Podcast such as AO3, Stitcher, and Youtube just to name a few.

O: You can also find us on iTunes and Google Play now! So we're also there, which is really crazy and I can't believe they're on there but I'm so excited.

S: It's because Owls is a boss.

O: [laughter] Thank you!

S: So yeah, until next time, I'm Specs!

O: And I’m Owls!

S: Toodles!

[Outro Music Plays]

**Author's Note:**

> **Fanfic Recommendations:**
> 
>   * [You Say Spark, I Say Soul](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5757136) by [sgri_sgri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgri_sgri/pseuds/sgri_sgri)
>   * [Shoot Out](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2202054) by [ladydragon76](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydragon76/pseuds/ladydragon76)
>   * [2014 Tiny Treats #12, Decepticon AU edition](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1145089) by [eerian_sadow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow)
> 

> 
> **Fanartist Recommendation:   Nicholas Kelsch**
> 
> Where to find them:
> 
>   * [Deviant Art](https://www.deviantart.com/nkelsch)
>   * [Website (via the Wayback Machine)](https://web.archive.org/web/20110703153242/http://www.nickkelsch.com/transformers/default.aspx)
> 

> 
> Favorite Art:
> 
>   * [Beast Wars: Maximals](https://web.archive.org/web/20101126103314/http://nickkelsch.com/transformers/archive.aspx?series=Beast%20Wars&faction=Maximal)
>   * [Beast Wars: Predacons](https://web.archive.org/web/20101126044258/http://nickkelsch.com/transformers/archive.aspx?series=Beast%20Wars&faction=Predacon)
> 

> 
> **Where to find us:**
> 
>   * [Anchor](https://anchor.fm/aftersparkpodcast)
>   * [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/AftersparkPod)
>   * [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Imo2wtgyxc6dc5ayfomcavnitaa)
>   * [iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/afterspark-podcast/id1452120342)
>   * [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/Afterspark-Podcast)
>   * [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/afterspark-podcast?refid=stpr#_=_)
>   * [Twitter](https://twitter.com/@AftersparkPod)
>   * [Tumblr](https://afterspark-podcast.tumblr.com/)
>   * [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG4cYaXdC4dtgl7a_paS6vg#_=_)
> 

> 
> You can also find us on our personal Tumblrs [@twilight-owl](http://twilight-owl.tumblr.com/) and [@specspectacle](http://specspectacle.tumblr.com/)!


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